Bengal doctors’ forum objects to Abhishek Banerjee's post on accident victim's death

Kolkata, Sep 9: The Joint Forum of Doctors has objected to Trinamool Congress general secretary and the party Lok Sabha member Abhishek Banerjee's social media post where he blamed their strike for the death of an accident victim. The forum in a communique on Sunday to Banerjee contested Banerjee by presenting some facts related to the accident. Banerjee in a post stated that a boy from Konnagar in the Hooghly district of West Bengal faced a road accident and died after bleeding for three hours without receiving medical attention as a consequence of ongoing protest by doctors on the R.G Kar Medical College & Hospital rape and murder case.

In the communique, a copy of which is available, two joint conveners of the forum pointed out that “the patient did not bleed for three hours without receiving medical attention”. As per the communique, the said patient was first “referred to a higher centre from Srirampur and was received at R.G. Kar Medical College promptly at 9.10 a.m. on the same day, September 6.

“The doctors on duty immediately attended to him and continued to provide medical care at several intervals until his unfortunate demise at 12.30 p.m., as noted in the provisional death certificate (PM No. RG2400791300, dated 6.9.2024). The bed head tickets as well as the statement of the MSVP of RGKMCH will categorically substantiate our claim and refute your post,” the communique read.

According to the forum conveners, the social media post by Banerjee is also “potentially dangerous” since it involves the risk of inciting violence and hostility against the medical community. The forum has also asked Banerjee to retract the social media statement. “It is imperative that political leaders like yourself exercise responsibility and ensure that your words do not inflame tensions or lead to further unrest. We expect you to set the record right and take corrective action promptly to prevent any potential repercussions arising from your misleading post,” the communique read.

In his post on September 6, Banerjee said that while the demands of the junior doctors were both fair and valid, the protests should in a way disrupt essential medical services. “If the protest has to continue, it should be done constructively, with empathy and humanity, ensuring no more lives are put at risk through inaction or neglect," Banerjee's social media post read.